Raven's Tale
by MrLRocks78
Summary: When almost all of the inhabitants of Castle Bleck disappear, three minions left behind are forced to do something that is absolutely manditory to finding the others... getting along! But how will they, with so little in common?
1. Prologue

**RAVEN P.O.V.**

I know Dimentio Scurra.

Yeah. Weird last name, "Scurra". Hey, did you know that "scurra" means "jester" in Latin? Which fits Dimentio, seeing as he is... well, a jester.

I've never seen him before in my life. Well, I _have_, but I don't wanna talk about it.

His memory was wiped. 'Cause of the Big Boom. That rotten bomb planted by Ipsium Deathtoll, to ensure that the whole of Endonta was destroyed...

Ah, well. Forget all that. The point is, I know him. And he comes into this story a heck of a lot.

But on to our next subject. L.

Uh... no. Not L from Death Note. L Thunder, more commonly known as Mr. L, the Green Thunder, and alter-ego of Luigi whatever-the-last-name-of-Mario-and-Luigi-is. Engineer-slash-inventor, super-arrogant, has wings? Yeah. Him.

So, there you have it. Now you know about my two best friends... well, at least one of them.

When I first re-met him, I hated Dimentio's very guts. But soon, me, him and L were to embark on a quest... a quest to rescue all our friends, and an entire kingdom!

Cue holy choir music...

Okay. Um, I don't think you need to know about them, but I'll introduce them anyhoo. There's O'Chunks McSmith, whose grannie and grampy run a cider company: McSmith Cider. Mimi Denova, who can transform into this freaky spider. Nastasia Axle, who's super uptight and organised, plus blessed with brainwashing powers. The Evene couple, Blumiere and Timpani. And finally - da da da-daaaa! - MOI! Raven Featherclaw!

So, now you know us. The gang. The group. The pack. The anything-else-you-can-think-of-that-is-another-version-of-the-word-gang.

Now, this is a story. A real one, I guess. I've always questioned reality.

But anyway.

This story alternates between point of views. All you have to do is peep at the top bit in bold, and you get who's point of view the chapter's being written in.

...I think I'm done breaking the fourth wall now.

ANYWAY. You better be prepared for this adventure. It may have humour (I dunno), it may have drama (I dunno). It might even have death. But whatevs. The point is, it's a story, and stories need a beginning.

This, my friends, is the beginning.

The beginning of a story that revolves around us all, but involves me in particular (don't take that for vanity or arrogance, alright?). Therefore, we have all agreed that this particular tale, mainly about me, Raven, will be called "Raven's Tale". So sit back, enjoy the ride, take some popcorn, and so on and so forth.

LET'S DO THIS THING!


	2. Scurra and Thunder

**DIMENTIO P.O.V.  
**  
"RAVEN!" I roared across the hall. "COME HERE!"

The sash-wearing girl zips to my side in about point-five seconds. That estimate obviously ersatz.

"Like a loyal, yet annoying, slobbering dog, you fly to my side," I sneered.

Raven shrugged. "Meh. I'd rather be the slobbering dog rather than the creepy jester."

How dare she!

I drew myself up to my full height. "The sheer cheek of it! How _dare _you call me... call me..."

I struggled with the words, I admit it. Raven stared at me, arms folded, head cocked, eyebrow raised. Finally, the words burst out of my mouth.

"How dare you call me the 'retsej ypeerc'!"

Raven burst out laughing, rolling on the floor in her mirth. I personally didn't see what was so funny.

"The what-now?" she snorted in between shouts of laughter.

"It's 'creepy jester' backwards," I snapped, feeling my face begin to warm.

"Uh-huh," snickered Raven, getting to her feet. "Well, if you're trying to be a clown, you're doing an awesome job. Now, excuse me..."

And before I even had time to say "GET BACK HERE!", she had ran off.

"Honestly!" I huffed, as I spun around and hovered down the corridor. "She thinks that I'm a _clown, _hm? A ridiculous, red-nose-wearing, bumbling _fool_?"

Ever since that... that _pest_... entered the halls of this castle, I have felt my smooth tongue slipping more often than not. Only yesterday I let myself call Mimi - the incopetent brat - a "helpful girl", just because she had assisted - no, got in the way of - me trying to reach the cookie jar. _What _I was doing with the cookie jar, I have no idea!

As I hovered, deep in thought, I bumped into Mr. L, who was consulting some mundane blueprint or other about that pathetic pile of bolts that he calls "Brobot". I smirked inwardly. Even in my current state of... well, anyway, L was easily messed with.

"Why, hello, Green Thunder," I chirped. "Fancy a game?"

"If the game is called 'Dimentio Goes Away', then sure," muttered the masked man.

"Ah hah hah! A little snappish today, aren't we, hm?"

"That's what you always say."

"And it's true. Snappier day by day."

There was a grunt.

"Now, I've come to talk to you about a certain... Raven Featherclaw."

If he had been drinking something, he most certainly would have spluttered over it. That was surely what he did at that moment, because it took him a while to regain the ability of speech.

"Whaddaya mean, Raven Featherclaw?" he snapped.

"Well, what is that dreamy, faraway look you get every time you look at her?" I asked lightly.

"YOU LITTLE - !"

"Gentlemen."

Mr. L whirled around to see Nastasia, her eyes cold behind her glasses. His attitude changed faster than a lightbulb blowing.

"Nasty Nassy! What a surprise..."

As he spoke, I realised that Nastasia stiffened with anger. Deciding to drive the conversation out of these dangerous waters, I intervened, changing tack immediately.

"Do you know where Raven is, Ms. Axle?"

"Uh, no..." replied Nastasia, frowning. "Why do you - "

"She's on the fourth floor, inspecting the male toilets, and wondering how best to break them down," said L hastily.

"WHAT?" roared Nastasia. "SHE'S GONNA PAY!"

She turned around and teleported to the fourth floor. We could hear her yelling three floors above our heads. Raven had evidently been passing the toilets when Nastasia oh-so-kindly teleported.

"Now why did you interject?" I cooed to L.

The masked man shrugged. "I owe her that."

"Why? Did she poke fun at your brooch, too?"

"I don't wear a damn brooch."

"Ah. So you don't..."


	3. A Shocking Revelation

**L P.O.V.**

"Nooo... Nooo... Get out... Get out of my head..."

Phantoms swirled above me, laughing cruelly. They slashed at me with long, sharp fingers, and I felt the pain at my side, felt the blood gush... felt the very essence of my self leave...

I was nothing... Nothing but a shell... I cradled myself, soaked in blood, while the torturers cackled and shrieked and soared...

No... it couldn't be...

The image of a man dressed in grey rags flashed in front of my eyes... a man clasped in chains... a man I recognised to be myself...

I felt the last drop of will leave me... I fell to the floor, but didn't hit my head. Instead, I felt myself leave the earth... falling, falling, falling...

"OI! Mr. Sleepyhead! Wakey wakey!"

I practically flew upwards, straight as a board. I heard a yell, and realised that the yell had come from my own mouth. I felt my forehead. Super-warm. I was doused in sweat, and shaking. Shivering.

I felt the warm morning sun flood my room as the door was pushed wide open. I looked around, and realised I was in bed, dressed in my pyjamas. I looked around more, taking in the kindly familiar sights. Brobot, standing like a sentry in the middle of the high-ceilinged room. My desk, brown, wooden and cluttered. The floor stained and messy. I looked at the bed that had just arrived last week, parallel to my desk. I looked at the door, and realised that a young girl with green hair was walking towards me.

"Hi, Mimi," I groaned, letting myself fall back onto the black pillows. "You aren't supposed to be in my room, y'know."

"Morning, L!" chirped Mimi, perching herself on the bed. "I heard you mumbling in your sleep, and saw you thrashing round and stuff. I poked you, and you stopped a little. I came back later, and now you're awake!"

"Uh-huh," I muttered, feeling my forehead again. It was still extremely warm. Was I coming down with something?

"I'd better get you a Super Shroom," jabbered Mimi, getting up and making for the door. "You look like you're sick with a fever or something!"

I laughed weakly, said "See ya later, Mi", and watched the door close. I immediately bounded up and changed.

Soon, I looked like Mr. L, the Green Thunder again. Belt, mask, cap, bandanna... perfect. I stared at my reflection in Brobot's gleaming metal. Unbidden, the memory of my nightmare flashed through my mind. I grumbled something inaudible, bashing my head lightly with my fist. "Don't think about that..."

* * *

Out in the corridor, I ran into O'Chunks. He was twisting his fingers nervously, and looking around like he was super-guilty of some mega-crime or something.

"Uh, L?" he said to me, quietly. "Uh... c'n ah have a word with ya?"

"Sure," I replied, frowning at him.

He pulled me - none too gently - into a darkened corner of the corridor. There are tons of dark places like that round here.

"Uh... y'know 'dat lass? Nastasia?"

"Yeeeeah," I said slowly. "What about her?"

"I, uh, ah think I like her."

There was a very pregnant pause.

"Gee, Chunks, ya think?" I exclaimed after a while. "It's so obvious, I actually wonder why Nasty doesn't freakin' realise! Yeesh!"

"Ahm I... that... obvious?" whispered O'Chunks.

I nodded. "Yup. Anyhoo, gotta go. I gotta watch some pony episodes... I'm _way _behind on 'em! L-ater!"

I raced off, leaving O'Chunks in his little dark corner. Once I was far enough, however, I turned away from the TV room and instead made a break for the nearest window. Fact is, I'm up-to-date with all my MLP eps. Anyway, back to the story.

Just to make sure, I looked around to check if anyone was there a-creeping, then I spread my wings and flew out of the window.

I've been practicing, just to let you know, so I wasn't as scared the last time I tried it. I let the air currents fly me towards Misery Forest, leaving me free to scan the ground for any sign of Bolt or Xena.

Suddenly, I saw a green blur jump out of a clump of trees directly beneath me. I folded my wings slightly, and dropped like a bullet. I opened them just in time, and flew down like a parachute.

I landed lightly on my feet and looked around. The place still looked as calm as it did the last time I visited, ruling out the nearby chomping noises.

I walked towards the particular chomping noise, and soon uncovered Bolt nibbling on the bones of a poor little squirrel. Yeah. "Poor little squirrel". What shit.

Anyway, I had to throw a rock at him (Bolt, of course) before he realised me. He looked up, blood staining his muzzle.

"What the frack do you want?" he demanded. "I'm a little busy with lunch, here."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Whatever. Listen, I need to talk to you about something."

"Is it your nightmare?"

"...How the L did you know?"

"Xena's been told to keep tabs on you," Bolt informed me. "Jaydes told her to."

"WHAT?" I yelled, sending a few birds into the air.

"Yup," said Bolt, resuming his devouring of the bird.

"I gotta go," I said automatically. "L-ater!"

"See ya," said Bolt.

I took flight, but instead of heading towards the Castle, I headed out for some open air, startled by the news.

Why was Jaydes wanting to keep tabs on me? Why did she want Xena to do it? And what the heck did my nightmare mean?


	4. X the Hawk

**BLUMIERE P.O.V.**

"Count Blumiere just doesn't understand why they can't get along!"

I was pacing in front of the bed that Timpani and I shared. I was feeling very distraught and distracted by the friction between my minions. Timpani was very kindly listening to my ravings.

"I mean, sure he's a crazy psychopathic sadistic jester who's most likely living out of pure spite," I exclaimed, talking about Dimentio. "But that doesn't mean that they cannot at least _try _to get along!"

"Maybe you're going about this the wrong way," soothed Timpani.

I sighed frustratedly and sat down, running my hand through my hair, dislodging my top hat.

"Maybe," I said finally.

"Come on," smiled Timpani. "I think I know what will cheer you up."

* * *

**RAVEN P.O.V.**

"Yo," I said to Chunks as he passed by. "Where's the lovebirds?"

"Uh, outside," replied O'Chunks shortly. I watched him look around nervously, like a bird that knows he's being hunted. He gulped, and scurried around a corner.

"Gee, do things get weirder 'round here each damn day?"

I looked at the nearby window, and realised an Endontian hawk perched there. He was a greyish black, with a feathery tail and scaly grey legs. His talons were razor-sharp, as was his grey hooked beak. His eyes - at first glance - were white and pupil-free, but if you looked closer you realised the red pupils. There were two extremely thin growths coming out of where his ears would have been. At the end was a tear-shaped feathery ear, with a thin dark-grey inside.

"Hey, X," I greeted my pet hawk, holding out my arm. X fluttered onto my arm, but didn't cling on too tightly with his talons. Makes me glad that I'm distantly related to the goddess of birds.

"So what's up?" asked X, as we made our way down the corridor. "Anything new with the gang?"

"Naw," I replied. "There was some ass-kicking between Dim the Dum-Dum and Mimikins, but who cares 'bout that?"

"Yeah," agreed X. "What I really wanna know about is... _what's goin' on between Monocle Man and Butterfly Lady?_"

I chuckled. "Don't call 'em that."

"Why? You have nicknames for everyone 'round here."

"I'm glad I haven't told 'em about you. They'd never hear the end of it!"

X gave a screechy laugh that echoed all around the corridor. I snapped his beak shut.

"Shaddup!" I snarled. "D'you want Nasty Nassy to find us?"

"Sorry," whispered the hawk. X straighted as I let go of his beak.

"Well, you're going now, right?" I said as we reached the end of the corridor.

"Predator's gotta hunt," said X.

He flew to the window and looked back at me. "Remember: DON'T TELL ANYONE 'BOUT ME. Right?"

"Gotcha," I replied. X saluted, then took off silently.

I watched him turn into a mere dot in the distance. Then, I turned around and made for the front doors.

But I never made it after what happened next.


	5. The Monster With Metal Claws

_Seeing as Mimi hasn't appeared yet, I'm gonna be using her point of view for part of this chapter!_

**MIMI P.O.V.**

I was wandering round Castle Bleck, just writing in my diary. I figured, hey, if Dimmy's gonna be waiting for me in my room, I might as well stay away, right? Anyway, I was just getting up to the part about this super-cute boy I passed a few days ago, when there was, like, THIS HUGE GINORMOUS EXPLOSION!

I should've gone screaming. Instead, I turned around and frowned.

"DIMENTIO!" I screamed. "YOU'RE NOT SCARING ME, YOU MEANY-HEAD!"

Nothing. I guess that dummy-face was either hiding, far away or invisible.

I gave a little cute 'humph', then continued writing my entry. The pink feathers topping my pink shiny glitter pen tickled my little button nose, and I gave an adorable little sneeze.

That's when I felt a giant metal claw grabbing me by the waist!

I looked around angrily, preparing to crack my neck and turn L's dumb Brobot to a pile of bolts. But it wasn't Brobot.

My diary and pen fell from my hands as I let loose an ear-splitting scream.

* * *

**NASTASIA P.O.V.**

I sighed audibly as I looked down the piece of paper clipped to my clipboard. It was the schedule for the coming week. I was due for cooking duty, garbage duty, dish-washing duty and about fifty other duties. Why couldn't I just have some time to myself...?

Suddenly, there was a giant 'BOOM!'. I turned around, my eyes narrowed, prepared to zap any offender with my super hypno-powers.

But I never really got the chance.

Behind me burst a giant metal claw from the floor. I screamed and ran, full-tilt, towards the front doors.

The claw shot towards me, and I practically sprinted. I was running the fastest I had ever ran in my whole entire life.

But the claw was faster. It fastened itself around my waist, and I felt a searing pain. I would've cried out, but I don't remember anything after that.

* * *

**TIMPANI P.O.V.**

I looked up at the Castle, my eyes wide with fright. Next to me, Blumiere got to his feet, scepter in hand. There were screams and metal claws flying out of the windows. I gasped, and, unbidden, a rainbow aura appeared around my hands.

"Stay here!" ordered Blumiere, and teleported to the Castle.

I looked back at the Castle, at the monster that my beloved would be forced to fight.

No. I would not take that chance of losing my love again.

I set my teeth, and sprinted towards the Castle.

_Bad idea, Timpani, _a voice inside me seemed to coo. _Bad, bad idea._


	6. Another Shocking Revelation

_Author's Note: Forgot to put "Author's Note" in the last Author's Note. Note that the author apologises!_

**L P.O.V.**

"AAAAAAH!"

I flew around the Castle frantically, letting my eyes pass over the scenes of rubble, of destruction, devestation and despair. That clown had gone too far! The stupid, freaking little pile of donkey shit... I'll kick his ass!

Blood was splashed across the walls. The windows had piles of rubble sitting on their sills. It looked as though the floor had heaved upwards and was now a large mass of rubble. Dust lay like icing over everything. After a few minutes foraging, I found Mimi's diary and pen sitting on the floor of one of the corridors. It looked as though half the Castle had been blown up. In the meeting room, there was an enormous hole in the wall. The lights had been smashed. The rooms were one of the precious few things that were not demolished.

I heard some rubble being dislodged behind me. I whirled round and saw Dimentio playing with some rubble, a light smile on his face. I felt anger sear through me.

"YOU MURDERING BASTARD!"

With a yell, I threw myself at the son-of-a-bitch, rugby-tackling him to the floor. I grabbed at his throat, but he clicked his fingers and teleported away, gasping for air. I lunged, roaring, but his head snapped up and encased me in one of those Grambiforsaken magical boxes. I yelled and beat at the walls with my fists.

Suddenly, the door blasted open in a flash of golden energy, and Raven walked in, her mouth gaping wide open.

"L?" she said. "Dim? What's going on?"

"Raven!" exclaimed Dimentio. The magical box, without Dimentio's attention, shimmered into nothingness, and I hurled myself at Dimentio, delivering blow after blow. Staggering, Dimentio tried to dodge, but I was upon him. Soon, we were rolling around on the floor, kicking up dust. The jester's nose was bleeding, and my head had a nasty scratch, but we still fought in the dust.

I regret to inform you that Raven soon found out.

"STOP THIS FREAKIN' INSTANT!" she bellowed, and as her sash's outline glowed gold, so did her gloves, and me and Dimentio. We were seperated instantly, but we still struggled against the aura that held us.

"Lemme out!" I yelled.

"Let me go!" shouted Dimentio. "And note how I say 'Let ME go'!"

"I'm not lettin' anybody go 'till somebody tells me what the frikkin hell's goin' on!" demanded Raven, and we both fell silent.

"He destroyed the damn place!" I roared, pointing at the jester.

"I most certainly did NOT!" snapped Dimentio. "Why, I was simply prowling around Mimi's room, when I heard some explosions not far away. I figured that it was nothing, and continued searching for the child's diary. THEN, I come here to find the meeting room destroyed, and you accusing me of demolishing the place! What folly!"

He tried to laugh, but I could see that he was secretly afraid. Afraid, and angry.

"I swear that he destroyed the Castle!" I yelled stubbornly.

"I don't give a crap who DID it," growled Raven. "I just wanna know how we're gonna FIX it."

"The Count will know something," I said immediately.

"You are so loyal, it is foolish!" laughed Dimentio.

"Wait a sec..." muttered Raven. "Has anybody seen the Count since the wreckage? Or anybody else?"

Me and Dimentio slowly shook our heads. Then, it dawned on us.

Our friends had been captured.


	7. VERY VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER ALERT!

**VERY IMPORTANT!**

**PLEASE READ!**

No more chapters will be updated.

_**WAIT!**_

Only for a week. When the next weekend comes, chapters shall come!

Yes, they will.

Calm down AlwaysNinja.

Oh, yeah. Thanks to AlwaysNinja for the first review!

And to Marica15!

Okay, see ya for a week.

Buh-bye.


	8. Two Birds, X and X

_Author's Note: Okay, yeah. Putting names for the P.O.V's are getting O-L-D! I'm therefore changing 'em! They are as follows: Charming Magician is Dimentio, Forest Girl is Raven, Green Thunder is Mr. L, Chunk Dude (LAUGH OUT LOUD!) is O'Chunks, Rubee Girl is Mimi, Secretary is Nastasia, Monocle Man (another LOL) is Count Blumiere, and Rainbow Butterfly is Lady Timpani. On with the tale!_

**CHARMING MAGICIAN**

Once the irritating-beyond-belief forest girl let us (more noteably, ME) down, she began pacing where she was, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Where would the guys go?" she mused.

"It's pretty damn obvious they were kidnapped," interrupted Mr. L, standing up and brushing himself down.

"So who would've kidnapped 'em?" exclaimed Raven. "More importantly, who would have the technology, the wits AND the guts to kidnap 'em?"

"We can rule out Ms. Goody-two-shoes," said L, most likely talking about Princess Peach Toadstool.

"And that meathead Bowser wouldn't be half as smart," I put in.

"Right!" said Raven. "So that leaves... who?"

"No-one from the Beanbean Kingdom or Sarasaland know about this place, 'cept for Daisy," muttered L.

"So who does?" said Raven impatiently.

Suddenly, we heard two loud screeches, and a black-grey hawk with strange growths for ears and a black crow landed on the window, jostling for a centre position.

"Xena!" said L in surprise.

"X!" said Raven in surprise.

"Gerroff me!" yelped the hawk, presumably X.

"L, there's super-bad news!" yelled Xena, amidst the scuffle.

"Raven, all castles have fallen!" shouted X.

"_Whaaaaat_?" exclaimed L and Raven in unison.

"Yeah!" said Xena. "Peach's Castle, Daisy's Castle..."

"Bowser's Castle, all of the Koopalings' Fortresses," reeled off X.

"And the Beanbean one too!" finished Xena.

"So," I said grimly, "we have a castle-raider, hm?"

"Xene, was anyone kidnapped?" asked L urgently.

"Everyone present in the Castles!" the birds squawked together.

"That settles it!" said Raven, a spark in her eyes. "We're officially on a quest to find our friends _and _to kick the sorry ass of the bastard who did this!"

"What was the most recently raided castle?" said L.

"Peach's," said Xena.

"Well, then," I smiled, floating over to the door and holding it open mockingly. "To Peach's Castle, isn't it?"


	9. Four Captives and One Fool

_Author's Note: SCREW CHAPTER 7! Updating will resume as normal! Only... a little slower?_

**FOREST GIRL**

"Oh, crappity-croo."

We had arrived at Peach's Castle. But there was a little issue. I mean, we were at where the Castle was supposed to be. There was no-one around, however. But that's not the bad bit. The _bad_bit is that...

"WHERE THE FRACKTAIL IS PEACH'S CASTLE?" I yelled, then went running around everywhere, searching for the Castle frantically.

L stopped me on about my sixth run all around the blank, empty field. "Raven! You really do live up to your name, doncha? Ravin' and yellin' round like that!"

"Why don't we think this through logically and carefully?" asked Dimentio.

Before I could even open my mouth to scoff at him, there was a giant explosion in the blank field.

A giant cylindric metal robot was standing in front of us. Its "legs" were longer, slightly skinnier cylinders than its "body", and its feet looked like flat discs. It had about a dozen "arms", each topped with a metal claw. In four of those claws, there was a prisoner.

"Mario, Luigi," muttered L, pointing at the red-clad and green-clad figures.

"And Peach and Daisy," murmured Dimentio, indicating the princesses. "Apparently, our auburn-haired princess was taking a little holiday..."

"Well, we can't just STAND here!" I yelled. "I'm gonna rescue 'em!"

And before those cowards could even shout "Raven! GET BACK HERE!", I was already climbing up the robot's leg.

Fortunately, it didn't notice anything. It simply turned around and made its way to the hills in the distance. I scaled the leg until I reached the flat top of the robot. I then considered the arms, which were far too dangerous to climb on. Instead, I summoned the aura around my sash and gloves, and delivered some karate chops to the top of the robot. It left practically nothing.

Unperturbed, I clicked my fingers, and my dagger appeared instantly in my right hand. It had a razor-sharp point, a gleaming, mirror-like blade, and a golden handle, with an emerald set in the middle on either side. I slashed at the steel, but to no effect. I then tried a less head-on approach. I carved around the side of the top until I had made a circle. I then somersaulted into the air and delivered a kick to the weakest point: the centre.

The "lid" immediately collapsed under my weight, and I found myself amidst a mess of colour-coded wires and blinking lights and switches and about every other friggin' thing you'll find in a robot. I looked around and selected a nearby red wire, which I slashed with my dagger.

The entire thing blew up in flames.


	10. A Silver, Lightweight Arrow

**GREEN THUNDER**

I would've yelled "BAIL!", but I had already taken to the air and was flying as fast as I could away from that giant damn flaming fireball of twisted metal. I could hear Dimentio yelling at me to slow down, but as IF I'd listen to that idiotic, son-of-a-gun, little bas -

TWANG.

I shouted in pain as I felt something pierce my leg. I looked down, my wings flapping hard to stay in the air. I felt my blood run cold as I pulled out a silver, lightweight arrow. The shaft had sunk halfway into my left thigh, and was covered in blood. Blood with a certain purple tinge to it...

Poison!

I gasped as the realisation hit me. Then I yelled again as another stabbing pain was experienced in my head. I clutched at my skull, but the pain went on and on, like some beast trying to claw its way out of my brain...

Then the pain was all over, and I felt like I was on fire.

I twisted and flailed in mid-air. Dimentio was behind me, shouting something. I felt my wings paralyse, and I slowly descended.

Or was it slowly? I don't really recall...

_The yells of a helpless victim... the ground rushing up to meet them... the sickening crunch of breaking bones... pools of blood..._

* * *

**CHARMING MAGICIAN**

"D'you think he'll be alright?" asked Raven concernedly, looking down at L.

"Do I look like a doctor to you?" I snapped.

Raven turned away from me. I know I sounded cruel, heartless even. But I certainly didn't feel that way.

L was my childhood friend, the one person who I could really trust. Even though we didn't mess around like we did in the old days, we were still friends. And if I could ever call someone loyal, it would be L Thunder.

I don't want to lose someone like that.

To give myself a right for silence, I looked down at him. I had patched him up the best I could with magic (oh, the wonderful thing!), but he still looked the worse for wear. A scar was running down his right cheek. A portion of his left trouser leg had been torn off to be put to use as a bandage for the arrow wound. His left wing looked broken, and his arms and hands werecovered in scratches. His head was heavily bandaged.

We were hiding out in Misery Forest. Peach's Castle had yielded nothing except injury, and the princesses and the Bros. had not been saved. Raven was bruised, battered and slightly bloody, but she refused to be cleaned up. Instead, she had resorted to examining the arrow.

"It's definitely of Endontian design," she had murmured. "Perhaps an elvish tribe?"

"Where would elves be?" I had snapped, and she had fallen silent.

Bolt seemed to have been captured, too. Xena and X, however, had joined us. They were currently scouting for food.

"Uungh..."

We whirled around. L was sitting up, feeling his bandaged head. He felt the moss beneath him, then turned his head wildly.

"Calm down, dude!" exclaimed Raven in relief, sidling up to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." L still looked a little confused.

Raven looked at me. "I think this is the part when you make a simile?"

We laughed.

"I can't think of one right now," I admitted.

"Well, that's all nice and dandy, but d'you wanna eat or what?"

We turned around. Xena and X were there, each clutching large vines of some red berries.

"FINALLY!" we said in unison.


	11. Imprisoned

_Author's Note: NEW POSSIBLE POVs! Aldawolf is Bolt, Crow is Xena and Hawk is X. Proceed!  
_  
**CROW**

Me and X tore off the berries and rolled them, one by one, towards the humans. We could see that they were super hungry, and so I sped up. Soon enough, there was a neat pile of berries in front of us.

"Can we eat now?" asked the sash-wearing one.

"Uh, sure... you," I said.

"That's Raven Featherclaw," interrupted X.

"Uh-huh," I replied.

Dimentio (using magic) levitated the topmost berry off the pile and into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed before commenting, "Well... it'll do for one night."

The other two humans laughed (I don't know why) and helped themselves. My stomach was full (from some of the berries I had stolen when no-one had been looking), so I fluttered to the mouth of the cave and looked out.

"I'll keep watch," I called over my shoulder.

I heard murmurs from the others, and scuffling sounds as they pulled sheets of moss over themselves, preparing to sleep. I looked backwards, and gave a slight jump as I saw X standing a beak away from me.

"Jeez, dude," I said, turning to face the outside world. "Don't do that."

"Sorry," apologised X. He sounded sorry. I pretended not to notice.

"Aren't you supposed to hunt or something?" I shot at him.

"I'm, er, diurnal," admitted X.

"Me too. But you can see me keeping watch, eh?"

"I guess..."

We stood there in silence. After a while, X yawned, his hooked beak gaping open.

"Well, I'll hit the branch," he told me, making his way back into the cave. "If you don't want me here."

I snorted and turned back to the moon. Its beams cut clear paths across the grass. After a few minutes, X slunk away disappointedly.

I chuckled to myself. "You stupid hawk..."

* * *

**ALDAWOLF**

"Where are we?"

Mimi's whine echoed, even though we were sharing a stuffy cell set into damp stone walls. There was no door, but five steel bars stood there, "barring" our way out.

Y'see what I did there?

Aw, what's the use of joking? No-one's smiled in the past few hours, especially me.

"We're in a magic-proof cell, with diamond-hard bars sealing us away," droned the Count. He had given exactly the same answer for the past half-hour.

"Oh." Mimi put a hand to her chin and thought hard. "Why can't we teleport out?"

"Because it's magic-proof," said Timpani tiredly.

"I wanna get out," I moaned. "This cell is like torture. I'm probably claustrophobic."

"It's jes' 'cause you're a wolf," said O'Chunks. But his face didn't look like it agreed. In fact, O'Chunks might have well been screaming "GEMME OUTTA HEEEERE!", it was so obvious.

"D'you think the others will, y'know, come and, um, save us?" whispered Nastasia fearfully.

"They'll try," said the Count grimly. "But, knowing them, they've probably all gone their seperate ways by now, seeing as how much they argue amongst themselves."

"They'd better hurry up and put aside their differences," I grumbled. We all looked at each other, suddenly scared.

What if they _didn't _put aside their differences?

What if we were destined here... _forever_?


	12. Eevill the Dolphin Thing

** HAWK**

I soared high, high above the ground, skimming the clouds with my tail and talons. A sea of fluffy whiteness stretched out below me, while the sapphire-blue sky flew above me, like some weird yet beautiful parody of the sea. The sun shone its beams down on my feathery back, as my wings caught the thermals and pushed me upwards with ease.

It was a different story down on the ground.

My ears, strange as they looked, worked ten times as better as a bald-headed eagle's. I could tune my ears, too, kind of like a radio aerial. I could focus on a conversation or discussion while blocking out the other noises. I could also listen to two separate things using different ears. I could even twist my ears 360 degrees.

Right now, however, a certain L Thunder and Raven Featherclaw had caught my attention with a heated... hm, how do I put this? Argument.

"You're a complete _idiot_!" yelled L.

"Oh, idiot am I?" snapped Raven. "I don't see you risking your neck to save someone!"

"I'm not stupid enough to do that!"

"You calling me stupid?"

"Yeah! Maybe I _am_!"

"Shut up, Elly!"

"WHAT did you call me?"

"Elly! Ring a bell? Y'know, it's a girl name. You're too dumb to know, though, so - "_  
_

I didn't catch anything after that, apart from some various punching noises, punctuated by yells, shouts and the occasional odd swear. I heard Dimentio quote a simile that had something to do with dogs and cats, then got bored of the whole thing and beat my wings to speed up. Soon, I had found a nice little tree in which to perch in. I landed, folded my wings, preened myself and waited.

* * *

**RAINBOW BUTTERFLY**

I stared miserably through the cell bars. Bolt was squashed in his little corner. O'Chunks took up half the cell. Mimi and Nastasia were conversing together in low voices, heads together. Blumiere and I were sitting, cross-legged, watching the empty cell across from us.

"How did we get into this mess?" sighed Blumiere, stroking my hair.

"I don't know," I sighed back.

"Wakey-wakey!" cackled an all-too-familiar voice.

Six heads raised as a strange, alien-like creature slithered towards us. It looked like a twisted hybrid between a bird, a dolphin and an eel. Its skin was smooth and grey, like a dolphin's. Its head was also dolphin-like, with large, white, pupil-less eyes and a green sail rising up from its head. It had a yellow, hooked beak, with a small, white, sharp fang jutting out from either side, a small nostril next to each fang. The nostrils resided on the top of the beak. Its body was serpentine, with an eel-like tail. The end was dolphin-like, and another, longer, green sail ran from its neck to its tail. Two grey sails that vaguely resembled wings jutted out of its back, and a light-grey underbelly ran from the beak to the end of the tail. Its arms were human-like, and its hands resembling bird talons.

Eevill. Our captor.

"Uh-oh," said O'Chunks. " 'Dis looks bad."

"Ya think?" hissed Mimi, her eyes wide with fright.

"Don't worry," crooned Eevill, his white eyes filled with unexplainable malice. "This session's going to be nice and long..."

"Crap," said Nastasia.


	13. The Fear Fog

**GREEN THUNDER**

"Ah, shit."

I glanced at Dimentio, raising an eyebrow. Not only was it out-of-character for him to swear like that, but I also couldn't see what the problem was. He grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

"Hey!" I snapped, wrenching my arm out of his grip.

"Look," said Raven grimly, poking me and pointing.

I turned my head and swore.

The way ahead was shrouded in fog, deathly-white and swirling. It seemed to tug at us, and we backed away instinctively. Xena and X landed on my and Raven's shoulders respectively. Birds couldn't fly over this kind of fog. Not if they didn't want to break a wing.

We had encountered some fear fog. A large, swirling, vile batch of fog that showed anyone venturing inside it their deepest, darkest fears.

I nearly crapped myself.

"This is just peachy," murmured Raven.

"I hate fear fog," groaned Dimentio.

"I do too," I replied. "Wanna just make a break for it?"

Xena took a deep breath. "I guess so. No other way, eh?"

"I'll go first," I insisted. And, before anyone else could contradict me, I ran head-first into the fog. I felt the brush of crow wings up against my cheek, and knew that Xena had been forced to leave me. I wanted to yell, "Don't go!" but what help would it do?

I kept running and running until I felt that my lungs were about to burst. I opened my wings and took to the air. I sped on, the fog around me swirling and spiralling and closing in on me... then I hit a tree.

The collision nearly knocked me unconscious. My arrow wound started hurting again, and now I had a pain in my head to deal with too. Grumbling to myself, I got up and brushed myself off. I examined my wing. The left one was bent at an angle.

"Yup," I muttered. "Broken as hell."

Then I remembered where I was. I yelled in shock, and began to continue running.

Suddenly, I felt something weigh down my arms, ankles, legs and wings. I choked as a manacle was fastened around my neck, and staggered to the ground. I tried to move, but the chains held me tight.

That was when I heard the phantoms.

I looked up, feeling my usual clothes breaking down into the grey rags that I had learned to dread. Red smoke spiralled around me, and I saw the silhouettes of my torturers, their long-clawed hands reaching out towards me. I felt three claws slash at my side, and I screamed as the pain ate its way up my arm.

I felt my voice leaving me. I choked, and coughed up blood. It spattered on the ground, and the slashes on my arm bled furiously. I was, once again, soaked, drenched in my own scarlet blood. And then I heard the voice.

"Neheheh..."

I raised my head, the sheer effort and pain causing tears to spring to my eyes. A ball of golden glowing light appeared, and moved towards me, its glow bringing something like pins and needles, but much worse.

"G... guuh... s-stop... p-pleeease..."

But it was no use. The red smoke enveloped me, choking me, and the blood was slowing and I couldn't breathe and the world was going black and there were phantoms and laughing and someone carried me and they were yelling and I could hear something else like a bird and the red smoke went and I could breathe but not for long and I fainted.

_Author's Note: SOOOOO sorry about the long wait! Will make up for it in later chapters! Anyway... I am NOT good with gore and stuff. So ya._


	14. Raven the Phoenix

**FOREST GIRL**

When I heard the yell, I reckon I snapped. Summoning my dagger, I sprinted towards the fog, ignoring Dimentio's yells. As I ran deeper into the fog, the sobbing grew louder. Suddenly, I tripped over a stray root, lost my grip on my dagger, and saw it slide towards a shaking figure. Its head was bent, and it was trembling uncontrollably.

"L!" I shouted, relieved and worried at the same time. Crouching low, I began to examine his injuries. A bit of blood on the shoulder, red marks around his neck, wrists and ankles, and ripped clothes. No serious harm done, though.

I gripped his shoulder and guided him up. "C'mon L, we're getting the shit outta here."

"R-Raven?" stammered L, looking up at me. I saw that his mask was gone, revealing the emerald-green eyes that, right now, portrayed nothing but fear.

Am I a sick writer or what?

Anyway, I started speaking fast, in an undertone. "L, we gotta get outta here. We're in the middle of a fear fog batch, and if we don't get outta here I'm gonna - AAAAAAAH!"

I stumbled backwards, shaking as I saw the thing that I feared above all others slowly stomp its way towards me. L turned his head and gaped. "What the freaking hell is that son of a bitch?"

It's kinda hard to describe it, but I'll try. Here goes...

Imagine a dolphin. Upright. No pupils, just white eyes. Imagine a large sails sitting on a head. Two other sails that look like wings. Killer bird talons. An eel-like tail. A green spine of fin running down from the back of the head to the tail-tip. A yellow, hooked beak.

"Why, hello," sneered Eevill.

"GO TO HELL!" screamed Thunder, running towards the Direel. Some green sparks of electricity surrounded L's hand, and his right fist was soon charged up with green lightning.

"No such luck!" taunted Eevill, before cackling madly and spinning on the spot. He vanished in a shimmer of air. L stumbled slightly, whirling around to look for him.

I dived for my dagger, but Eevill appeared behind me and slashed my back. I yelled, and dropped my dagger again. Clapping his talons together, a crack opened up in the earth, and my golden dagger fell in.

"YOU BASTARD!"

I don't know who yelled it. It could've been me. Could've been L. Doesn't matter. The point was that Mr. L was in aggro mode. He charged his Thunderhand to full power and punched Eevill with all the force of an oncoming train. I blasted him with Avian magic and the Direel staggered back.

Suddenly, a harsh screeching noise that sounded like grating metal pierced the scene, followed by a series of crow caws. Another nanosecond later, and X and Xena swooped from the sky.

X stabbed Eevill in both eyes, the Direel letting out a scream of agony. Xena attacked furiously at the sail on his head, the thing Eevill used as a third eye. I blasted his sail-like wings, and L continuously stabbed him in the chest.

But Eevill wasn't defeated that easily. His talons swiped at X and Xena, causing the two birds to retreat. He lunged madly at L, and stabbed his shoulder. Roaring, I transformed into a crow and stabbed at Eevill's chest randomly.

Grinning suddenly, he aimed at me with his beak and jabbed it into my head. Or would have, had I not moved out of the way. I hurled a gobbet of healing energy at L, who was lying on the ground, semi-conscious. Once the healing did its work, he staggered up again and charged his wings with black electricity.

Combining both green and black lightning, the Green Thunder shocked Eevill with one-kajillion bolts of electricity. Screaming with rage and pain, Eevill thrashed around in agony.

X and Xena swooped in, me leading them. We stabbed at Eevill, but he grabbed the other two birds and hurled them across the clearing. L and I yelled their names, but they lay unconscious.

"And now I shall end your games!" hissed the barely conscious Direel.

At that point, I lost it. I felt a flurry of rage and power hit my body, and I exploded into flames. When the embers and smoke cleared, a straight-backed red-gold phoenix stood as myself, twice as large as a crow and the wave of fire running from its head and out like Celestia's mane casting a shimmering fiery glow on the clearing. I shook my similar fire tail and swooped at Eevill, golden beak and talons at the ready.

I hurled a deadly stream of fire at Eevill, who screamed louder. L finished him off with a Thunderhand punch, and the Direel vanished in a puff of smoke.

Panting, I shrunk back into a crow, and then reverted back to human. L smirked.

"That was fun."


	15. The Mystery Castle

**GREEN THUNDER**

I felt fine, but I was still a little shaky after my encounter with what I'm gonna be calling the dream phantoms. Dimentio had rushed to our aid, but once he entered the fear fog, it had cleared. Relieved, we had continued, with our bird companions soaring high in the sky.

I wanted to join them, but Dimentio was nagging me to stay on the ground.

"You cannot go up there," he said. "It is like a rabbit going to sleep in the middle of a clearing with a red-tailed hawk hunting above. It would make you an easy target."

"I don't need to be nagged by a fake-faced loser," I snapped. "I'm going up there."

Raven stopped me. "L, you've been injured more than anyone else on this journey. You aren't going up there until we get our friends back."

I glared at her, but I couldn't formulate a retort. I contented myself with asking about Raven's dagger.

"I probably aren't getting it back," reflected the forest girl sadly. "The fear fog took it."

"What a pity," yawned Dimentio.

After a few hours walking, we stopped to rest in a nifty little cave we stumbled upon. Raven offered to go and scout the perimeter with the other birds, and transformd before flying off. This left me with the jester.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward. Dimentio was toying with a leaf on the ground, leaving me content to stare out at the moon. After a while, Raven came back and announced something interesting.

"The forest ends a few minutes away," she told us. "Afterwards it's just barren wasteland."

"Didja see when it ends?" I asked.

"I didn't have time," she said blithely.

The rustling of feathers declared the return of the two X birds.

"Oh, good," I muttered, catching sight of the three apples the birds were carrying. "I'm freaking starving."

I took an apple, and so did Dimentio, but Raven waved hers away with her wing.

"I already ate," she said shortly, then looked at me and Dimentio. "I should mention something else. I saw the silhouette of a fortress, or castle, on the horizon. It looked a good couple of hours away at least."

"We should check it out," I said, after swallowing my mouthfull of apple.

"In the morning, though," interrupted Xena. "Grambi, I'm tired."

"Yeah," said X. "That fight with Eevill was tiring."

"Who's Eevill?" chorused me and Dimentio.

"That dolphin thing we fought the other day," said Raven, preening herself. "Dimentio, you didn't see him."

"I have a faint idea," smirked the jester, and started drawing in the dust.

When he was finished, we could see the clear outline of the dolphin thing.

"A Direel, I believe," he said smoothly.

"Wow," grinned Raven. "Since when did YOU know anything about other species?"

"Since forever," replied Dimentio bluntly. I laughed at the sucky retort.

"Well, that's agreed," said X. "We're scoping out the mystery castle tomorrow, huh?"

"Agreed!" The rest of us smiled at the thought of storming a mystery castle.

* * *

The next day was a real doss. Raven led us through the path she had taken, and we emerged in what was definitely a barren wasteland. The ground was greyish and the only plants were the twisted bare remains of trees. In the distance loomed a giant spiky castle.

"Like a black blot against a grey piece of paper," remarked Dimentio, talking about the castle.

I looked up at the sky. The dark-grey clouds obscured the blue.

"I don't like the feel of that place," said Xena.

Somehow, I could feel it too. The castle gave off a feeling of depression, murder, torture and plain, black evil. I felt my tongue form a single word.

"Ex."


	16. Torture Two Ways

**CHUNK DUDE**

I watched the dolphin thing laugh softly as he watched the small band make their way towards his castle. The one WE were imprisoned in. L was talking to Raven about something. It must've been rude, cuz Raven then punched him - hard - on his arm and yelled something. Dimentio laughed and said something else, making them charge towards them. I didn't see the rest.

"Now," said the dolphin called Eevill as he went towards the cage, "who today?"

None of us spoke. We all didn't want it to be us, but we didn't want it to be anyone else, either.

"I'll do it," said Bolt finally, standing up and looking firmly at Eevill.

"No WAY!" exclaimed Timpani suddenly. "I can't stand seeing another living, feeling being in pain... do it to me!"

"No!" yelled the Count, forcing his wife towards the back of the cage, out of Eevill's reach. "I shall do it. Frankly, I deserve it..."

"We're not gonna let ya do that!" I heard Mimi shout the same words as me, but it didn't matter a jot. If someone got tortured, then our efforts would be for nothing.

"How about," smirked Eevill, "her?"

We all followed the talon that pointed. I felt my blood run cold as I saw it was Nastasia who he was looking at.

"NO!" I bellowed. I lunged in front of the beautiful lass. I didn't see her expression, but I heard her gasp. I glared at the dolphin and cracked my knuckles. "I ain't gunna let teh lass suffer like 'at! Why don' I introduce ya teh Fist Jr. and 'is wee pal, Slappie?"

I showed him my fists to make my point clearer. But Eevill just laughed and slammed his tail against the floor. In a flash of red light, Nastasia was sitting on the steel chair in the middle of the room. Her wrists, neck and ankles were fastened down by steel straps, and there were weird wire things that stopped any powers from being used.

"NASSY!" screamed Mimi.

"Mimi, no!" yelled the couple.

"Let her GO!" demanded Bolt.

I was too angry and scared to talk, just banged my fists together.

But Eevill smirked and placed a talon on a red lever next to the chair.

"No," begged Nastasia. "No, please! No, no, NOO!"

Eevill flipped the switch and there was a flash of light and Nastasia was screaming and screaming as though she was on fire and Mimi was screaming too and I tried to break the bars but I couldn't and Bolt was howling and Timpani was sobbing and the Count was yelling and the world was ending and it was going black and I couldn't see and Eevill was laughing and he tugged the lever higher and Nastasia screamed higher and I roared and I couldn't move and we were tied by magic and I struggled and Nastasia was crying and screaming and Eevill laughed and pulled the lever down and it stopped.

Nastasia was released and she fell down. She was gasping. Eevill laughed again and slammed his tail. Nastasia was back in the cage.

She stumbled upwards, then fell back down. Without knowing what I was doing, I scooped the lass up and hugged her. She murmured something, and hugged me too. Then we were all crying and hugging each other and hoping hoping hoping that L and Dimentio and Raven would save us.

Save us all.


	17. Breaking the Fourth Wall

**HAWK**

I looked at Dimentio, who was holding - no, DRAGGING - Mr. L by the wing. The engineer had a real annoyed look on his face, and his right cheek was a bit bruised from where Raven had punched it. Raven herself was being dragged along by me, she being in her Crow Form. Xena was a bit ahead of us, flapping her wings hard cuz there isn't any thermals round here.

Anyway, we were a few minutes away from the mystery castle. L kept shooting Dimentio dirty looks, mostly cuz he didn't like being dragged on his butt. Raven was muttering something, but I tuned my ears away from it cuz I didn't really wanna intrude on her private mutterings.

Dimentio looked at me and spoke. "Say, X?"

"Mm?"

"Why don't you hand over Raven?"

"Why?"

"Well, like a trustworthy racer being presented with a golden medal, I'll be sure to take utmost care of her."

"Oh, no freaking way, man. I heard what you've been doing with girls."

"Oh? And what's that, pray tell?"

"Picking 'em up, playing games with their minds, reading their diaries, making 'em feel shitty and crappy and hopeless and all that shit cuz you're supposed to be so 'charming' and their supposed to be so 'lame' and stuff."

"Why, whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't you dare ask me that damn question!"

"I have not a clue of what you're rabbling about, thank you very much!"

I opened my beak, ready to retort, but then I saw his expression. Instead of talking, my beak dropped. Dimentio was, well and truly, not lying. He was going to take care of Raven, and didn't know what I was talking about.

"You... haven't been doing it much lately, though," I admitted.

"No," said Dimentio, "I haven't."

We looked at each other for a long time, each thinking their own thoughts, then Xena interrupted said thoughts.

"OI! Castle dead ahead!"

Our heads perked up as we saw the mystery castle loom over us. I dunno how to describe it: spiky? dark? scary? evil? all four?

Dimentio dropped Mr. L and the latter said "Ow!". The jester clicked his fingers, but nothing happened.

"Magic proof, no doubt," muttered Raven. She then added, under her breath, "Charming Magician? More like STUPID Magician."

Dimentio looked over at his friend and sighed, shaking his head. He then placed a hand on the brick.

"Looks like we're getting in manually," he sighed.

"I'll be off, then," said Mr. L suddenly, spreading his wings. Xena tugged him back down.

"No way, green-bean," she said sternly. "I'll go ahead."

And before anyone could stop her, she flew off.

"It's just occured to be how foolhardy we've all been during this adventure," Raven said, unexpectantly.

"What?" me and Dimentio said.

"I've attacked a robot head-on, L's run into a batch of fear fog, Xena's flew ahead into almost certain danger, and it looks like you two are next."

"Say what now?" I exclaimed.

"MrLRocks78 just likes torturing us," continued Raven.

"Uh," said Dimentio, "fourth wall, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Silly me, I forgot!"

"How could you forget the FOURTH WALL?" demanded Dimentio.

I looked from Raven to Dimentio, confused.

* * *

_Author's Note: XD Had to be done, guys. Had to be done._


	18. Foolhardy

**CHARMING MAGICIAN**

I floated up calmly after L. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glowing golden aura, and three similar shapes took off from the ground. Once I had gotten on to the roof, I saw Mr. L hovering on top of a window, his eyes narrowed as he tried fruitlessly to peer through the glass.

I gave one of my charming musical laughs. "Allow me, dear friend."

"I'm not your friend," snarled the Green Thunder. His face was now contorted with anger. I didn't see what was so aggravating, but deduced it was I who was doing said aggravation.

I decided to keep it up.

"Oh, on the contrary, _friend_," I said lightly, shimmering into invisibility before floating right in front of the window. "It's just too bad that some of my friends are not blessed with the power of magic."

I looked up in time to see Mr. L lunge at me. I easily dodged the assault, and Mr. L quickly zipped to the side of the window once he had regained his balance.

"Asshole," he spat at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. Childish, I know, but oh dear Grambi it was fun. He flushed red with anger and charged up a thunderbolt in his fist, right before Raven, Xena and X landed with a clatter on the tiles of the roof.

Mr. L's lightning died down and his face returned to its original colour. He stared at me pointedly.

"What?" I asked.

"What's goin' on, Sherlock?" roared L.

"No need to get your wings in a fix," drawled Xena.

"Shut the freaking shit up," snapped Mr. L angrily.

"Calm dow, dude!" exclaimed Raven and X.

I smirked and peered through the window.

I nearly fell out of the damn sky.

The Count, the Lady, all our minion friends, were in a cage straight across from the window. A bit to my right I could see what looked like a steel chair with metal restraining bands, and a red lever next to it. Our friends looked quite depressed, slumped against walls, bars or each other. A Direel was...

I nearly let loose an extremely rude four-letter word beginning with 'F' out of my mouth, but I stopped it just in time. The others looked towards me.

"What's up?" they all chorused.

"Th-there's a Direel!" I stammered. "At the window!"

Of course he couldn't see me invisible, but dear merciful Grambi he looked mad.

"I'm goin' in!"

I heard the words but barely had time to get out of the way as our foolhardy engineer Mr. L burst into the room. Glass shattered and flew everywhere. The Direel was knocked down, shocked, and the ones in the cage perked their heads up.

"FLY!" screamed Raven, and she, X, Xena and I dived into the window.


	19. One Pissed Phoenix and One Dead Direel

_Author's Note: Sorry I didn't get around to using all the POVs! Maybe in another fanfic? Anyway, the rest of the Tale will be in third-person._

* * *

Eevill and his captives gaped at the sudden group that stood before them. The shattered window was blocked by Mr. L, Raven, Xena, a strange black hawk, and Dimentio. The first two and the latter were in a unique battle pose, Xena was perched on L's shoulder and staring with narrowed eyes, spread wings, and haughty expression, and the hawk was on Raven's shoulder, in a similar pose to Xena's.

"Dear... merciful... Grambi..." whispered Timpani.

Eevill froze. Then, he threw back his head and positively screamed with laughter. "THIS is the rescue party sent? An emo green-bean engineer, a little girl, a psychotic jester who isn't in control of his body half the time, a scruffy little crow and a hawk who can't even HUNT?"

These words would normally have induced unspeakable anger in everyone except Raven. However, this time it was the opposite. The forest girl's eyes were suddenly flickering with an anger-induced flame. She clenched her hands into fists. She visibly grit her teeth. Startled by the sudden fiery aura she was starting to give off, the rest of the group fell back.

Raven slowly stepped towards Eevill. Her fists relinquished their grip slightly, and each one was immediately surrounded in golden flickering flame.

The Direel's eyes suddenly displayed fear. He started to back away, but Raven did not halt, did not cease her somewhat calm walk. Only when she was a foot away from Eevill, and the latter pressed against the bars of his captives' cell, did she speak.

"What," said Raven Avi Featherclaw in a deadly quiet whisper, "did you just call me?"

Eevill gulped.

"You have no idea what I've been through," continued Raven, her voice still barely above a whisper. "Fighting YOUR stupid robot, trying to heal that stupid engineer from YOUR stupid poison arrow, looking for YOUR fortress, thinking about how I was gonna rescue YOUR captives..."

The ones in the cell shrank back. They could sense what was coming.

"And you..." finished Raven fiercely, quietly, deadly, "you... all you do... IS FUCKING LAUGH!"

The last three words were screamed, and Raven launched into the air and exploded into a human-sized phoenix, pupil-less sun-coloured eyes flaming, her mane of fire and tail of flames blazing, her talons glinting and wings outstretched.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE, YOU'VE WASTED MY FUCKING TIME, FUCKED UP MY LIFE, AND YOU FUCKING **LAUGH**!" screamed Raven.

"I... I..." stammered Eevill.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" roared the furious phoenix. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU TO THE UNDERWHERE! I FUCKING HOPE JAYDES GIVES YOU THE COLDEST FUCKING CELL IN BONECHILL'S PRISON, CUZ YOU'D BE DAMNED FUCKING WELL TO HOPE THAT SHE DOESN'T FUCKING ALLOW ME ANYWHERE FUCKING NEAR YOU ONCE I'M FUCKING DONE WITH YOU!"

And then she belched forth fire, an inferno, an eruption, fire worth ten volcanoes, and in a scream and a puff of smoke, Eevill was no more.


	20. The Short End

_Author's Note: SHORT END CHAPTER IS SHORT._

* * *

"The Direel called Eevill seemed to have raided numerous castles and fortresses and kidnapped their inhabitants. The ones responsible of saving the captives are Raven Featherclaw, L Thunder, Dimentio Scurra, Xena the crow and X the hawk of Castle Bleck, Dimension Bleck. Their fellow minions and trusted masters, Blumiere and Timpani Evene, were amongst the - "

The brand-new television turned off with a "fwip". L tossed the remote to Raven, who placed it on the table in front of her. Dimentio looked at them and stretched, before smirking at them both.

"And so another one of our dashing adventures comes to a close, like a movie screen fading to black," he commented lightly.

"Knew that'd crop up sooner than later," muttered Mr. L, pulling his cap down.

Raven laughed.

Suddenly, the couple and the other minions walked into the room. The three new-found friends looked over their shoulders as one.

"Very well done, minions," said Blumiere, a spark in his eyes as he nodded approvingly. "You saved the others and Count Blumiere, and Count Blumiere thanks you."

"Thanks, Count," said Raven.

"Never knew ya c'd swear like 'at, Rave," said O'Chunks, slapping Raven approvingly on the shoulder. Raven pushed him off, rubbing her shoulder and grinning.

"Hey," said L, "she's a woman. What do you expect when you get 'em worked up?"

Raven, Timpani, Nastasia and Mimi immediately looked up. L, realising his mistake, spread his wings and took flight out of the nearest open window. "L-ater!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"GET BACK HERE!" screamed the girls, and Timpani teleported them to L in a flash of rainbow.

O'Chunks, the Count and Dimentio smiled at each other. They shared a silent message, then O'Chunks stretched.

"Well, Count, gotta get on wit' it."

He lumbered out of the room, almost absent-mindedly. Dimentio smirked at his Count.

"Ciao," was all he said, before teleporting away.

The Count grinned.

Yes, life had gotten back to normal in Castle Bleck.

Back to the old ways.


End file.
